The crucified and the Crucified : A Study in the Liberation Christology of Jon Sobrino

Is there a relationship between the suffering people of today and the crucified Jesus of Nazareth? Jon Sobrino claims that there is an intimate relation. The crucified Jesus Christ is present in the hardships of poor and excluded people. Solidarity with ‘the crucified people’ in their struggle for justice and dignity is therefore necessary for grasping the salvific significance of Jesus’ life and death. It is only possible to participate in this salvific reality in our time through the crucified people. The ‘crucified in history’ paradoxically bring salvation, like the crucified Jesus. These are remarkable theological claims. They represent the most daring and novel aspects of christological and soteriological reflection in Latin American liberation theology. This book critically explores what relevance these claims may have to a wider social and theological context. The possible limitations of this ‘theology of the crucified people’ are thoroughly scrutinised, and its suggestive potential further elaborated. Far from seeing theologies in a liberationist mode as outdated in a globalised age, the author shows through his study of Sobrino’s Christology in what ways such an approach represents a profound renewal of Christian theology in the third millennium both with regard to its contents and to its fundamental method.